Do you remember the days before Nirvana when what became modern rock was still called college rock? The only way you’d ever hear of these any of these bands was on college radio or from your friend’s older sister. These albums, along with records by R.E.M., The Pixies, Sonic Youth, and others set the stage for Nirvana, Soundgarden, and um…. Hootie & The Blowfish.

You can relive those exciting days on Black Friday when you buy any or all of these classics. I have fond memories of all three. If you shopped at Bull Moose in the early days, you almost certainly heard us playing them in the store.

We sincerely apologize for the trouble many people experienced on our website yesterday afternoon. As often happens when rare items go up for sale online, there was a digital stampede. To give one example 781 people tried to buy the R.E.M. 4LP set even though we only had a few copies left.

We increased our website’s efficiency recently, but our server was still overwhelmed by hundreds of times more activity than we usually see. This ssssllloooowed everything down, which resulted in an understandable amount of frustration and confusion. The only good thing is that the server never crashed. It simply kept cranking away, processing everything in order.

Unfortunately, the slowdown allowed people to put items in their shopping baskets while other people were checking out for the same item. Many people assumed that items had been snatched away from them and sold to other customers who came later. In reality, orders were being processed in the order we received them. Everything was so slow that unfortunately, our site let people put items into their cart that others had already claimed. Those items were removed from people’s carts when the previous customer’s credit card was processed.

Although it is terribly frustrating – possibly more than we can appreciate – if you were one of the people who lost out on something, we assure you that you lost it to someone who put it into his/her basket first. That may seem incredible if you put something in your cart at 12:01pm, but many people put their first choice into their basket at 12:00. We know that this won’t relieve the disappointment of not receiving a record you really wanted, but it may make you feel better to know that we are trying to be fair.

The best way to find out the status of your order is to log on to your account and check your order history. If an item says “item packaged” it means that it has been packaged. It might even be at the post office. We don’t change the status to “shipped” until it has been out of our possession for a while. You can make use of the tracking button, but keep in mind that it can take 24 hours after shipping for tracking information to be live.

“Order received” means just that. We worked all last night and are nearly caught up, so hopefully you will receive a packaging confirmation email very soon. Unfortunately, some of the items are oversold. We are trying to get more, but many records are sold out forever. Whatever restocks we receive will be sold to people in the order they placed their orders.

The worst thing about Record Store Day is seeing something you want offered on eBay. Record Store Day has been doing things behind the scenes to combat the problem, but we need a little help (tonight!) from collectors.

Some flippers are brazen enough to elicit pre-orders on eBay. This is a violation of eBay’s terms because these jerks can’t promise that they will be able to ship the items. Therefore, we would love it if collectors everywhere reported those items. It’s simple.

SALEM, New Hampshire – Seven-time Grammy nominee Joan Osborne will celebrate the release of her eighth studio album Love and Hate on Record Store Day, April 19, with a special in-store performance at the Salem Bull Moose. The free, acoustic performance will take place at 1PM at Bull Moose, 356 South Broadway. Attendees are also welcome to have copies of Love and Hate (available at Bull Moose for $9.97 on Record Store Day), in addition to one other item, autographed following the performance.

Osborne’s acoustic appearance at Bull Moose is part of her nationwide tour to promote her newest album, released on April 8. Osborne calls Love and Hate her most intimate album to date, noting that its production was an ongoing project over the past seven years, during which time she released two other albums and worked on a variety of other musical endeavors.

Love and Hate is a soulful mix of American roots music, poetic lyrics, and impassioned vocals. The album was co-produced with guitarist Jack Petruzzelli and features instrumental contributions from Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and Spin Doctors drummer Aaron Comess, as well as backup vocals by Gail Ann Dorsey, Catherine Russell, and Amy Helm of Ollabelle.

One more event added!
Please join us in welcoming the multi-platinum selling recording artist and seven-time Grammy nominee,Joan Osborne, she will be swinging by the Salem, NH store at 1PM on Record Store Day! Joan will play a few acoustic songs then sign copies of her new CD Love & Hate.

Rhino brings us the 1992 stereo remix of Little Games on splatter colored vinyl. This was their last studio album. I hear where Jimmy Page was trying to take the band, but it sounds like the band wasn’t given enough studio time to explore all their ideas. This has the same ten tracks as the original album, not all the bonus stuff from the double CD from 1992. Hopefully you got Sundazed’s “Goodnight Sweet Josephine” b/w “Think About It” on Record Store Day 2011.

Sounds I Heard is a LP plus a 7″ that could be difficult to find because there will be only 200 copies for the US. Fortunately, if you got the really nice Glimpses rarities/live/BBC box set you already have all the music.

Frontman is a live and rarities collection by Jim McCarty, who is best known as the drummer in The Yardbirds. He wrote some of the Yardbirds’ songs and went on to form Renaissance with Yardbirds’ singer Keith Relf and Keith’s sister, Jane. (Renaissance morphed into the Annie Haslam-fronted progressive rock band, but that’s another story.) Anyway, this record is sampling of many of McCarty’s cool post-Renaissance projects.

Chuck Inglish will release four 7″ singles on Record Store Day. Each one will be a different color and feature a different artists. All four will include a free copy of Chuck Inglish’s upcoming album, Convertibles.

Every year Varèse Sarabande Records has released some of the more sought-after releases. Every one I have heard has sounded great, thanks to the mastering efforts of Steve Massie. Once again, their records will be pressed by Erika Records.

The big release is The Zombies’ classic Odessey & Oracle. You need this if you have any interest in 60’s music and don’t own an original copy. It’s an outstanding British psych/flower power album, with elements of The Kinks, The Beatles, Pink Floyd. “Time of the Season” was the hit, but if you mention “This Will Be Our Year” in a group of record collectors, you’ll get a bunch of knowing nods. It’s such a great song The Foo Fighters covered it on their Record Store Day release. If Syd Barrett hadn’t slipped the Emily in Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” some acid, she might have ended up like the Emily in “A Rose for Emily.” That Emily probably lived next door to Eleanor Rigby but never spoke to her.

This masterpiece will leave you wanting more Zombies, so keep an eye out for their other release. Sometimes known as I Love You, this its first release in the US.

Fans of the Peter Gabriel-era Genesis will note a different lineup on From Genesis to Revelation. Without Hackett and Collins, Genesis’ first album is really more of a progressive pop album. If you prefer the Bee Gees’ psychedelic pop period to any sort of prog rock, this album is for you. No carpets were crawled in the making of this album.

I’m not going to pretend that I have heard The Everly Brothers or Norman Greenbaum albums in their entirety. I trust Varèse Sarabande and the million bands I love who cite The Everly Brothers as influences.

Varèse Sarabande Records’ press release follows.

The Zombies Odessey and Oracle (Stereo)Odessey and Oracle, the classic Zombies album that is consistently in the top 10 lists of the greatest albums of all-time. Featuring the classic hit “Time of The Season”

Side Two:
1. Changes
2. I Want Her She Wants Me
3. This Will Be Our Year
4. Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914)
5. Friends of Mine
6. Time of the SeasonLimited to 2,500 units

The Everly Brothers Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (Mono)
In 1958 Songs Our Daddy Taught Us made a seminal artistic statement without pretension. A concept album before there was such thing; a return to basics before rock music had even matured. It all came naturally to Don and Phil Everly, the chart-topping recording stars who were just 21 and 19 respectively.

Genesis From Genesis To Revelation (Stereo)
This is the first time this album is on vinyl since its original U.S. release in 1974. The album features the original core Genesis line-up of Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, and Peter Gabriel

Track List: Side One:
1 Where The Sour Turns To Sweet
2 In the Beginning
3 Fireside Song
4 The Serpent
5 Am I Very Wrong?
6 In the Wilderness

Side Two:
1 The Conqueror
2 In Hiding
3 One Day
4 Window
5 In Limbo
6 The Silent Sun
7 A Place to Call My OwnLimited to 1,500 units

The Zombies (Mono)
Originally released only in Europe and Japan, this is the first time The Zombies’ second album is being issued on vinyl in the Untied States.

Track List: Side One:
1. The Way I Feel Inside
2. How We Were Before
3. Is This The Dream
4. Whenever You’re Ready
5. Woman
6. You Make Me Feel Good

Side Two
1. Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself
2. Indication
3. Don’t Go Away
4. I Love You
5. Leave Me Be
6. She’s Not ThereLimited to 1,500 units

Norman Greenbaum Spirit In The Sky (Stereo)
First time available on vinyl since it was originally released in 1969, the album features the massive hit single “Spirit In The Sky.”

Mike Mills, celebrated bassist and founding member of the rock band R.E.M., will visit Bull Moose in Scarborough for an in-store record signing on Saturday, April 19. The signing will take place at 2 p.m. at 456 Payne Road in Scarborough.

Mills will sign copies of R.E.M.’s Record Store Day release: a limited edition 4-LP collection of previously unreleased acoustic songs from the bands two appearances on MTV’s Unplugged.Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions willcontain 33 tracks, including 11 that were not included in the original broadcasts.

Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions contains 33 tracks, including 13 that were not part of the original broadcasts.

Record labels send us one page of information called “one sheets” about everything they want us to buy. Sometimes they think it’s cute to skew the cover art on the one sheet. That requires us to straighten it in Photoshop and it always looks funny. Sometimes we get bored.